View My GuestbookVeronika and Fergus around the world
This part of my site is to show you some of the places we go on our round the world trip. These pages are best viewed at high resolution (800 x 640 minimum recommended), otherwise the pictures might look a little distorted.
St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, April 27th 1999
I went back to my old university town with a couple of friends from when I was a student, Trevor Woollatt and Martin McManus. Some pictures of the Cathedral and the Castle, both ruined, can be found here. While I was at the Cathedral, I took some photos of tombstones related to my family. A bit morbid I know for those of you not interested in family history, but fellow genealogists will understand! The tombstones can be found here. Finally, some more general shots of the town, plus some photos of some friends, can be found here.
Carter's Bar, Edinburgh, Scotland, April 28th 1999
A welcoming drink with friends turned into a celebration of Scotland's unexpected (to put it mildly) victory over Germany at football.
New York, NY, June 5th-7th 1999
Four pages of pictures and text from the Big Apple: south Manhattan, the UN Plaza, Central Park and the Empire State Building. Also a couple of poems by Bryan Marx.
Washington DC, June 8th-11th 1999
Four pages from Washington DC, divided into landmarks, monuments, museums and galleries.
Ann Arbor, MI, June 13th-22nd 1999
A few pictures of Ann Arbor, a picturesque university town, and some of Trevor and Jennifer Woollatt's house and dog.
Toronto, Canada and Niagara Falls, June 22nd-26th 1999
Several pages about Toronto, starting with Yonge Street, the longest street in the world. Next comes the CN Tower, the tallest building in the world. The third page is about Toronto's Scottish connections. After that, we have some pictures of the University of Toronto. By way of contrast, there's some pictures of animals here. Finally from Toronto we have some miscellaneous pictures. And to end this section, there are some pictures from Niagara Falls.
Calgary and Trail, June 26th-July 1st 1999
A visit to the Devonian Gardens in Calgary, some more animal pictures and our first visit to an Internet friend, as well as an example of Canadian humour, and even a family history connection. All this on one page!
Penticton/Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, Canada, July 1st - July 5th 1999
A visit to Wal and Carol Brunt in Kaleden, together with a brief stopover in Osoyoos and a visit to Penticton, with windmills, giant peaches, radio telescopes, lakes and cows can be found here. Follow that up with a visit to Penticton Highland Games, replete with massed pipes and drums, Scottish hangover cures, and men in skirts throwing trees around.
Vancouver, Canada, July 5th - July 12th 1999
Finally we make it to the Pacific Ocean, to Vancouver, where we saw some excellent sculpture. Pictures of our trip to Stanley Park, together with Vancouver's famous steam-powered clock, can be found here. The stupendous Capilano Suspension Bridge, at 230 feet above the Capilano River, can be found here. Finally, there are some pictures of totem poles.
Vancouver Island, July 12th - July 14th 1999
Views from the ferry, deer - cute or annoying depending on your point of view, and Chinatown.
Seattle, July 14th - July 16th 1999
The most disappointing place on our tour so far, so disappointing that I'm not even going to bother with a page - I didn't even take a single picture. And the coffee was not nearly as good as it's made out to be. Suffice to say, we won't be going back to Seattle if we can possibly help it.
San Francisco, July 17th - July 20th 1999
Golden Gate Bridge, colourful murals, the world's crookedest street, flowers (but not in our hair), Spela Gruden.
Pleasanton, CA, July 20th - July 25th 1999
Visiting my fifth cousin Tom and his family, including a trip to Mount Diablo.
Yosemite National Park, July 22nd - July 23rd 1999
Big trees, El Capitan, waterfalls - what can I say?
Los Angeles, July 25th - August 3rd 1999
Lazy in LA - a trip to Santa Monica, and tanning by the pool.
Flagstaff, August 4th August 5th 1999
A day trip to the Sedona Valley, followed by another day trip to the Grand Canyon. Amazing.
Santa Fe, August 6th - August 14th 1999
A week in New Mexico. Visits to the Puye Cliff Dwellings and the Bandelier National Monument, ruins from the Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblan) culture. Pictures of the Valles Grande Caldera, the Black Mesa and Shidoni sculpture park. Some adobe buildings in Santa Fe, the city different. Finally, a trip to Taos, site of the largest multi-storey pueblo in the US.
El Paso, August 15th - August 16th 1999
A brief stop in this dusty but friendly border town. Nothing much to see or do, so no pictures here.
Chihuahua, August 17th - 19th 1999
A brief stop over in the first large city on the way into Mexico. A couple of pictures of the pretty amazing Cathedral.
Zacatecas, August 20th - 23rd 1999
A few days in one of the best of Mexico's silver cities. Some pictures of the town, a surprise for Veronika and me in the shape of the Zacatecas International Folklore Festival, and a day trip to "los ruinas" at La Quemada.
Guanajuato, August 24th - 27th 1999
Three nights in a lively old student town, with underground streets, callejonades and a busy social life.
Tula and Teotihuacan, August 27th - August 31st 1999
We were based in Tula for four nights, and made day trips to the Toltec ruins at Tula and to the amazing Teotihuacan. We also went to Mexico city for a day in a failed attempt to get a visa for Honduras for Veronika.
Veracruz, August 31st - September 2nd 1999
Spent a couple of nights in Veracruz, which used to be Mexico's main port, and has a history of pirates, foreign invasion and heroic resistance.
Villahermosa, September 2nd - 5th 1999
Dump of a town, despite its name, and unfriendly to boot. Still, it was a good base to visit the ruins at Palenque, and has good transport connections to the rest of Mexico. That's about all that can be said for the place though. Don't visit this place!
Merida, September 5th - 8th 1999
Merida was our base in Yucatan. We spent one day exploring the town, and from there we visited Chichen Itza, a Mayan archaeological zone.
Chetumal, September 8th - 10th 1999
We came down to Chetumal in the bizarrely named state of Quintana Roo as our gateway to Guatemala. The town itself is nothing special but it does have a great location on the Caribbean, and we saw a fabulous sunset from out on the pier. We came here to sort out Veronika's visas for Belize and Guatemala. A transit visa for one day through Belize cost $37! However, we managed to sort out both visas quickly, so we spent only two days in Chetumal before catching a bus to Flores in Guatemala.
Tikal, Guatemala, September 11th 1999
Two nights spent in Santa Elena/Flores, with a day trip to the Mayan ruins of Tikal.
Rio Dulce and Livingston, 12th - 14th September 1999
A river boat trip on the Rio Dulce.
Volcan Pacaya, 15th September 1999
Climbing an active volcano near Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala and San Pedro La Laguna, 14th - 25th September 1999
Relaxing by Lago de Atitlan, a beautiful volcanic lake; hammocks, bread and fruit ladies and fabulous scenery.
Panajachel, Guatemala - Ometepe Island, Nicaragua, 25th September - 5th October 1999
A visit to Guatemala's most famous market, a mad dash across four countries in four days, and then a few days spent on the beautiful island of Ometepe in Lago de Nicaragua, home to the only freshwater sharks in the world.
Costa Rica, 5th - 14th October 1999
Just over a week in beautiful, friendly Costa Rica, with visits to San Jose, La Fortuna, Volcan Arenal, Monteverde and Montezuma.
Peru, 14th October - 29th October 1999
Part one covers the trip from Lima to Arequipa, and then on to Lake Titicaca. Part two covers Cuzco and our visit to Machu Picchu.
Puno, Peru and Copacabana and La Paz, Bolivia, 29th October - 5th November 1999
Visas, sunsets, Inca islands and the capital city of Bolivia
La Paz, Salar de Uyuni, 5th - 19th November 1999
Salt deserts, terrible food, amazing rock formations, salmonella (four types!), lakes which change colour, hospital, useless guides, deserts 5000 metres above sea level - all the fun of the fair!
A month's R&R in Warner's Bay, near Newcastle, followed by three weeks or so in the Sydney area, checking out the harbour and meeting some relatives. Then a night bus to Melbourne for a week up in the Victorian Alps, followed by a week in the Victorian goldfields. Pictures include an unusual view of Sydney Opera House, the spectacular Three Sisters, tall ships and the home of "Home and Away"!
Echuca, Sydney, Canberra, 25th February - 25th March 2000
Koalas, kangaroos, dijeridus, parliament building with no roof, weird fish, colourful birds - it's all here. We went on a boat trip down the Murray River, spent a while in Sydney, including visits to Taronga Park Zoo and a repeat visit to Sydney Aquarium, a couple of days research at the Society of Genealogists library and a trip to Canberra with Oz Experience, taking in the Kiama blowhole (which conveniently refused to blow) and beautiful Pebble Beach.
Canberra, Snowy Mountains, Lakes Entrance, Melbourne 28th March - 12th April 2000
Dams, damn cute possums, radical solutions to issues of Republicanism in Australia (!), Lakes (natural and artificial), beaches, train stations, practical genealogy.
Torquay, Great Ocean Road, Grampians, Adelaide, 12th April - 26th April 2000
Surfers (aaaarghh!), more beaches, pretty big rocks, roads along the shore, family, rock formations.
Adelaide to Alice Springs, 26th April - 8th May 2000
Adelaide, Barossa Valley, Flinders Ranges, extinct volcanoes, sunsets, weird towns, big red rocks, locusts galore, a town like Alice.
Alice Springs - Darwin, Australia, 9th May - 19th May 2000
A three-day tour (pretty bad) through the Northern Territory, covering lots of swimming holes, big termite mounds and yet more weird rocks, followed by a week kicking back and relaxing in Darwin.
Kuta and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia 19th May - 28th May 2000
Having finally left Australia, a mad first week on beautiful Bali, dealing with friendly-but-pushy souvenir hawkers, manic driving, cheeky monkeys, dodgy electricity supplies, occasional torrential rain, tropical heat, but also excellent food, friendly people, amazing greenery, exquisite temples and decent cheap hotels.
Bedugul and Lovina, Bali, Indonesia, 28th May - 12th June 2000
Continuing our Balinese journey, we visit the water temple at Bedugul, eat some exotic fruit, get a mild dose of Bali Belly and then spend a week on the beach, watching dolphins, snorkelling and catching some rays.
Lazing on black-sand beaches on Bali, getting ill in Yogyakarta, the running sewer that is Jakarta, blessed relief in Kuala Lumpur, jungling in Taman Negara, islamic supermarkets in Kota Bharu.
Perhentian Islands, Georgetown, Malaysia; Thailand, 6th -28th July 2000
Beautiful tropical islands on Malaysia's east coast, hectic, busy yet strangely charming islands on Malaysia's west coast, utterly unpleasant Thai people in Hat Yai, lazing on a white-sand beach on Ko Pha-Ngan, the dump that is Bangkok, Alec Guinness and Japanese tourists on the River Kwai, stunningly beautiful waterfalls in Erawan, disappointing Chiang Mai (disappointing Thailand).
Hong Kong and China, 28th July - 26th August 2000
The hectic hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, excellent food and not-so-excellent MacDonald's, waiting for visas, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the obligatory Great Wall trip.
Trans-Siberian Express, Moscow-Beijing, 26th August - 1st September 2000
Six and a half days on a Russian train: vast wilderness, lots of beer, frantic station stops, triple rainbows, huge distances (9004 kilometres!), lots of noodles.
Moscow and St Petersburg, 1st - 8th September 2000
Red Square, dancing with babushkas on Pushkin Square, the Kremlin, friendly Russians, rip-off hostels, the amazing Hermitage Museum, lots of baked potatoes.
Tallin and Tartu, 8th - 20th September 2000
The beautiful old town of Tallinn (aka Revel), the amazing hospitality of the Sein family in Tartu, city kids in the country, and the mysterious Estonian pastime of bog-walking.
Riga and Vilnius, Latvia/Lithuania, 20th - 24th September 2000
Frank Zappa and the Gates of Dawn (no Pipers), old towns and modern officially sanctioned architectural vandalism, Jugendstil, bizarre brass bands, Eisensteins (two of them), more Blackheads, more passport hassles. All the fun of the fair.
Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, 24th September - 7th October 2000
Border and passport hassles, glass chess sets, stunning architecture, old friends, a salt mine, the largest mediaeval town square in Europe, hordes of tourists, failed attempt to visit an ancestral village.
Email me at: feg34@hotmail.com
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